Thrale history
Historic Sandridge. The story of a Hertfordshire parish (1952).
The first substantial chronicle of Thrale history, written by R.W. Thrale (1931-2007) & E. Giles. Reproduced in full with consent of the author.
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undertook to do the job for the low figure of £80 to £100. The church was normally maintained by a rate of 3d. in the pound, but this was doubled, and then the next year trebled, in order to pay for the bells and tower. The builder began his operations, but a few months later complained that he underestimated the cost and could not complete the tower for as little as £100. The vestry meeting showed no sympathy; by December 1837 the tower was completed; Mr. Hall continually complained about the cost and he finally obtained an extra £40, without the vestry admitting liability. That same year, when William IV died, the two cracked bells were sent to Whitechapel to be recast. The church looked as shown in the illustration for the next fifty years. (The clock was inserted in 1847, a gift of Mr. Thomas Powney Marten of the East India Company.) The two bells came back and were hung in the new tower and rung in time for the coronation of Queen Victoria; the larger of the bells is still in use. Three years went by and then one Sunday morning during service, there was an ominous noise and a gap appeared in the nave roof. The tower had taken a slight lean to the west, and it was discovered that whereas the east wall was on old foundations, the west wall of the lower had been built on graves, which had subsided. After eighteen months delay a London surveyor inspected the tower for a fee of nearly £9 and advised that it be shored up for the winter, which was done by William Paul. The churchwardens demanded of Mr. Hall what he meant to do about this deplorable state of affairs. After another inspection by a surveyor, who stated that the tower needed underpinning, Mr. Hall was obliged to make good his inefficient work and it is recorded that on Lady Day 1844 "the works necessary for the security of the tower of the parish church have been satisfactorily completed by Mr. Hall, and the tower now appears in all respects satisfactory."2
The erection remained until 1886, and there are still a few parishioners who remember it.William Archer, aged thirty, was in 1836 appointed verger. Besides ringing the two bells he was expected to keep order in church, keep the churchyard tidy and report damage. All this was for a shilling a week. His boots were rather noisy, so the wardens obtained for him a pair of slippers for two shillings, which lasted for fourteen years. Keeping order in church was not always easy and Archer had trouble with one of the notorious Paul children. Matthew William, at the age of seventeen, heaved a stone at the poor verger in the churchyard, and although the stone missed its mark, he was duly fined. This lad probably inherited his high spirits from his grandfather, who got into trouble for his behaviour at a Vestry meeting. He was told that his charges were extravagant; when he gave the meeting his considered opinion of them. The nine farmers present agreed that he "be not in future employed upon any parish business." Instead, they employed his son. Mr. Archer also dug the graves and his tombstone contains the following lines:
For many years I added dust to dust,
Ashes to ashes in my neighbours’ graves,
Now Lord, my dust and ashes I entrust
To Thee, whose death from death eternal saves”.
For forty-nine years Sandridge had been without a resident vicar and Dr. Griffith was therefore given a good welcome in 1872. Of a nonconformist family and educated at Cambridge, he brought to Sandridge his Puritan views. He had many children of his own and he expected them to renounce the devil and all his works, which included in his view dancing and sports. He was one of the most notable vicars Sandridge ever had, and he was known as Doctor Griffith, having become a Doctor of Law some years previously. In that period the clergy were still of the gentry and were expected to live as such. That is why the enormous old vicarage was built at that date. Six and a half acres were bought for garden and meadow, the price being £400; £200 came from the Duchess of Marlborough as long ago as 1729, and the remaining sum was a grant from "Queen Anne’s Bounty". A few months after the new vicar’s appointment the villagers cleaned the church and cleared away many years’ accumulation of dust and dirt. Oil lamps were hung, replacing a few candles on the backs of the box pews, which had shed a dim light on winter afternoons.
Dr. Griffith’s most outstanding work for Sandridge was the restoration and enlargement of the church. When he came he found the church in an almost ruinous slate and he quickly decided to rectify the matter and make the church secure for posterity. He would not, however, start work until all the necessary money had been subscribed; This great task took fifteen years. Many gave generously to the fund according to their means: £434 came from the Martens of Marshalswick, who had certain of the old box pews reserved for their use, but the continuance of this privilege was thwarted by the acceptance of a grant of £60 from the Church Building Society, which was given on condition that all seating was free and unrestricted.
The work was carried out by Messrs. Gregory and Company, under the direction of two architects at a cost of £3,808. Building operations look over a year, during which time a new
Footnotes
- Vestry Mins., Vol.2, p.2.↩︎
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